ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ Alumna Appointed SJSU’s Chief Diversity Officer
Dr. Kathleen Wong(Lau)
- April 14, 2016
Dr. Kathleen Wong(Lau), who received her bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication from ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ in 1992, has been appointed San Jose State University's chief diversity officer.
Wong(Lau) will lead SJSU’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, providing vision and direction for the university-wide efforts “to ensure a welcoming, safe climate for the community, and serving as a liaison to community partners and constituents on a wide array of diversity initiatives.”
“Dr. Kathleen Wong(Lau) brings a rich and varied professional experience as SJSU's inaugural chief diversity officer,” said Hyon Chu Yi-Baker, SJSU’s MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center director. “We were especially impressed with her ability to use research as a foundation for shaping diversity initiatives and programs. She is the perfect blend of an academic, social justice advocate, and a transformative leader.”
Wong(Lau) will start her new position on July 25.
She joins SJSU from the University of Oklahoma where she has served since 2014 as director of the Southwest Center for Human Relations Studies and the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE). Earlier in her career, Wong(Lau) served as a tutor and advisor for Upward Bound and as a bilingual education counselor for the TRIO program, a group of federal outreach and student services programs. She also served as an assistant professor of intercultural communication at Western Michigan University from 2005-2012, and has actively consulted with Michigan State University on diversity issues since 2012.
In addition to her BA degree, Wong(Lau) completed a dual master’s/Ph.D. program in communication with an intercultural concentration at Arizona State University. She was named by Diverse Issues in Higher Education as one of the 2015 Women’s History Month “Top 25 Women in Higher Education.”